A memorial service has been held for 15-year-old YouTuber Adalia Rose Williams, who passed away earlier this month.
The "Celebration of Life" took place on Sunday at the Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home in Austin, Texas. The service was recorded and streamed live on all of Williams' social media platforms for those who could not attend.
In an obituary, Williams—who lived with a rare genetic disorder called Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome—was described as a "soul larger than life."
The 15-year-old was "set free from this world" on January 12, 2022, surrounded by her family who loved her. "Her loss is felt around the world," the obituary read.
Rose had amassed nearly three million subscribers on her YouTube channel, with which she documented her life and struggles with progeria. The condition essentially causes children to age rapidly.
Williams is survived by her mother Natalia Pallante and father Adrien Williams, as well as her siblings Marcelo, Niko and Emiliano Pallente, and Legend, Sydney and Gunner Williams.
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"Few people have touched as many lives in so short a time as did Adalia Rose," a friend of the family, Jon Taylor, wrote in the obituary.
"Born December 10, 2006, her infectious laugh and beautiful smile transcended her struggles and brought strength to so many through her far reaching and authentic presence.
"Those that had the great fortune to know Adalia will always remember the feisty girl that loved so deeply and found joy in the smallest moments of life."
As Taylor noted in the obituary, many of Williams' YouTube videos ended with her saying, "Thank you for watching" and "I love you guys."
"She dances, she cries, she laughs, and she loves, a girl so free, a true friend's story so touching," Taylor wrote. "To be in her presence is the feeling of a warm hug, To the world she'd say, 'Thank you so much for watching.'"
Children with progeria appear to be healthy at birth but usually begin to show signs of rapid biological aging within the first two years of their life.
The genetic condition is very rare, affecting only around one in 20 million people worldwide, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The disorder is caused by a mutation in a single gene known as lamin A (LMNA) that makes a protein necessary for holding the center—or nuclei—of cells together.
When this gene is mutated, it produces an abnormal form of the LMNA protein called progerin, which makes cells unstable and results in the rapid aging seen in progeria.
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